Whether you hold shares or run a specialty store, chances are you’re not happy.

Shares in Retail Food Group — which operates brands including Michel’s Patisserie, Brumby’s Bakery, Donut King and Pizza Capers — have nosedived from $5.20 to 92c in the past year amid threats of a class action from franchisees who feel exploited.

Former market darling Domino’s Pizza Enterprises has dropped from $60 to $41 a share in a year, and fallen from $77 since 2016, amid sluggish growth and employee pay pressures.

And now franchise companies are being targeted by a parliamentary inquiry into their agreements with franchisees and their industry code of conduct.

Nationals Senator John Williams, who pushed for the inquiry, said he had heard horror stories and had met people who invested their life savings only to walk away with nothing when the business failed for factors beyond their control.

Michel's Patisserie is operated by Retail Food Group, where shares have plunged.Source:Supplied

Amid this negativity, you’d think that any idea of investing in food franchises should be spat out quickly, but there are some successes.

The share price of Collins Foods — which owns 223 KFC stores and 14 Sizzler restaurants in Australia — has trebled in just five years, while global food giant McDonalds is up 27 per cent on Wall Street in the past year and has trebled in a decade.

Baker Young Stockbrokers managed portfolio analyst Toby Grimm said low interest rates since the global financial crisis had helped food companies grow and attract franchisees, but the outlook was now uncertain.